Double or nothing virtual containers

ABSTRACT

A system and method for facilitating player interaction with instances of virtual containers in an online game are disclosed. After player activation of an instance of virtual container in the online game, one or more virtual items may be determined as initial payouts to be distributed to the player. One or more redetermined offers may be presented to the player such that the player may enable to pay an amount of consideration in exchange for having some or all of the items in the initial payout redetermined to improve the initial payout. Responsive to player selection of a redetermination offer, an outcome whether the player wins the reward may be determined stochastically. Distribution of virtual items may be effectuated accordance with the stochastically determined outcome.

Field of the Disclosure

This disclosure relates to facilitating player interactions with virtualcontainers within an online game.

Background

Providing virtual containers, such as treasure boxes, treasure troves,combat, boxes, war chests, lucky boxes, resource boxes, resource chests,mystery boxes, mystery chests, random boxes, and/or any other type(s) ofvirtual container(s) in an online game is generally known in the art.Such a virtual container may be activated by a player to acquire an itemin the online game. In implementations, the item may be distributed tothe player in accordance with a stochastic determination. For example, afirst item may be associated with a given virtual container such thatthere is a 10% chance it will be distributed to the player upon playeractivation of the given virtual container, a second item with a 20%chance of being distributed to the player upon the activation, a thirditem with a 25% chance of being distributed to the player upon theactivation, and so on.

Summary

One aspect of the disclosure relates to facilitating player interactionwith a virtual container provided in an online game. Players may beenabled to pay for a chance to improve an initial payout of an instanceof a virtual container after the player activates that instance of thevirtual container. As used herein, an initial payout of the instance ofthe virtual container may refer to a virtual item associated with a setof potential awards. Upon activation by a player, an award from the setof potential awards may be determined, stochastically orquasi-stochastically. The determined award may be distributed to theplayer. The individual potential awards may include one or more virtualitems usable in the online game. Activation of a virtual containerand/or distribution of an award therefrom may exhaust a virtualcontainer. An exhausted virtual container may no longer be available foruse and/or activation by the player. Prior to activation, a virtualcontainer may be acquired and/or held in an inventory by the player.This disclosure may describe a mechanism by which the player may obtaina redetermination of an initial award, or initial payout, for a virtualcontainer prior the virtual container becoming exhausted.

Responsive to the determination of the initial payout, offers may bepresented to enable the player to select a preferred way to receive theinitial payout of the activated instance of virtual container. Forexample, one offer may be presented to enable the player to receive theinitial payout as-is. As used herein, such an offer may be referred toas an “even” offer. Another offer may be presented to enable the playerto have the initial payout redetermined for distribution such that theactual payout of the instance of The virtual container may be improved.As used herein, such an offer may be referred to as a “redetermination”offer. As used herein, the one or more items in the initial payout thatmay be redetermined for distribution may be referred to as the“redeterminable” item(s) in the initial payout. For monetization, theplayer may be required to pay an amount of consideration in exchange forhaving the redetermination of the initial payout performed as specifiedby the “redetermination” offer. The consideration may include virtualcurrency, stored credit (e.g., points), real-world money credit, and/orany other type(s) of consideration.

Upon player acceptance of the “redetermination” offer, an outcome of theinitial payout redetermination may be made stochastically orquasi-stochastically. In cases where the outcome of the redeterminationis in favor of the player, the initial payout may be improved. In someimplementations, the amount of the consideration required by the“redetermination” offer may be inversely proportional to the value (realand/or perceived) of the item(s) in the initial payout. For example, a“redetermination” offer that includes a rare item as a “redeterminable”item may require an amount of consideration from the player lower thanthat required by another “redetermination” offer with a regular item asa “redeterminable” item. In some implementations, in cases where theoutcome of the redetermination is not in favor of the player, the playermay be enabled to try again on the same “redeterminable” item(s) for anamount of consideration less than that the player has previously paidfor the unsuccessful try. This may enhance player experience in theonline game by facilitating players to interact with activated instancesof virtual container. This may improve monetization opportunities forthe provider of the online game as the players may be motivated to spendto increase the initial payout of activated instances of virtualcontainers.

A system configured to enable a player to improve a payout of a virtualcontainer in an online game may include one or more servers. The serversmay operate in a client/server architecture with one or more clientcomputing platforms. The client computing platforms may be associatedwith the players of the game space. The servers may be configured toexecute one or more of: a game component, an inventory component, avirtual container component, an activation component, an offercomponent, a distribution determination component, an evaluationcomponent, and/or any other components.

The game component may be configured to execute an instance of a givenonline game. The instance of the given online game executed by the gamecomponent may be associated with a given game space in which gameplaysmay be facilitated for players of the given online game. Players maycontrol one or more elements within the given game space. The playersmay input commands with specific parameters to undertake specific deeds,maneuvers, actions, functions, spheres of actions, and/or any othertypes of interactions within the given game space.

The inventory component may be configured to manage inventories ofvirtual items for players of the game space executed by the gamecomponent. A given player inventory managed by the inventory componentmay provide an accounting of virtual items, such as virtual currencies,resources, objects, units, and/or any other game space elements thathave been procured, controlled by, and/or otherwise associated with agiven player in the game space.

The virtual container component may be configured to provide instancesof virtual containers for player interaction in the game space executedby the game component. The instances of virtual containers provided bythe virtual container component may be used for distributing virtualitems stochastically or quasi-stochastically to inventories associatedwith the players. Examples of virtual containers that may be provided inthe game space may include treasure boxes, treasure troves, combatboxes, war chests, lucky boxes, resource boxes, resource chests, mysteryboxes, mystery chests, random boxes, and/or any other type(s) of virtualcontainer(s). As such, a given instance of a virtual container may beassociated with a set of potential items such that upon playeractivation of the instance of the given virtual container, one or moreitems in the set of potential items may be distributed to the playerinventory stochastically or quasi-stochastically. The individual one ormore items in the set of potential items associated with the giveninstance of the virtual container may be associated with correspondingdistribution probabilities for distribution to the players.

The activation component may be configured to activate instances ofvirtual containers responsive to player activation requests, and todetermine an initial payout in accordance with distributionprobabilities corresponding to individual potential items associatedwith the activated instances of the virtual containers. Inimplementations, responsive to receiving the activation request from theplayer, the activation component may obtain the distributionprobabilities corresponding to the potential items in the set ofpotential items associated with the activated instance of the virtualcontainer; determine stochastic or quasi-stochastic distribution of oneor more items in the sets of the potential items to the player inaccordance with the distributed probabilities; and/or any otheroperations.

The offer component may be configured to effectuate, responsive to theplayer's activation of an instance of virtual container, presentation ofoffers on a client computing platform associated with a player. Theoffers may include an “even” offer that specifies the player may acceptthe initial payout determined by the activation component, one or more“redetermination” offers that specify the player may have the initialpayout of the activated instances of the virtual containers redeterminedto improve the initial payout, and/or any other offers. A given“redetermination” offer may specify an amount of consideration that theplayer may pay in order to accept the given “redetermination”.

In implementations, effectuating presentation of the “redetermination”offers by the offer component may involve obtaining configuration of the“redetermination” offers. A configuration of an obtained“redetermination” offer for a given instance of virtual container mayinclude an amount of consideration for having the specifiedredetermination performed, probabilities of redetermination, designationof one or more “redeterminable” items, terms for win or loss, and/or anyother configurations for the “redetermination” offer. The“redetermination” offer may specify an amount of consideration forhaving the specified redetermination performed. The consideration mayinclude an amount of virtual currencies, stored credits (e.g., points),real-world money credit, virtual items, and/or any other type(s) ofconsideration desired by the provider, administrator, moderator, and/orany other entities related to the game space. In some implementations,the amount of the consideration for the redetermination as specified bythe “redetermination offer” may be proportional to the value (realand/or perceived) of the “redeterminable” item(s) included in the“redetermination” offer. The “redetermination” offer may be associatedwith probability specifying an odd by which the player may achieve afavorable redetermination of the initial payout. In someimplementations, the probability associated with the “redetermination”offer may be determined dynamically based on various factors, such asmonetization rate, play rate, difficulty rate, value rate, and/or anyother factors within the game space. The “redetermination” offer mayinclude one or more “redeterminable” items, which may include some orall of the items in the initial payout. In some implementations, whichone(s) of the item(s) in the initial payout may be determineddynamically for inclusion as “redeterminable” item(s) based on variousfactors, such as monetization rate, play rate, difficulty rate, valuerate, and/or any other factors within the game space. The“redetermination” offer may be associated with one or more terms ofwinning and losing the redetermination. For example, without limitation,the terms may specify losing some or all of the consideration if theplayer achieves an unfavorable redetermination outcome, losing some orall of the consideration even if the player achieves a favorableredetermination outcome, increasing the amount of “redeterminable”item(s) in the payouts if the player achieves a favorableredetermination outcome, and/or any other terms.

The distribution determination component may be configured to distributeone or more virtual items to inventory associated with the player inaccordance with the “redetermination” offer accepted by the player.Determining the distribution of the items by the distributiondetermination component may involve obtaining the configuration of the“redetermination” offer selected by the player, determining whether theplayer achieves a favorable or unfavorable redetermination outcome inaccordance with the probability specified in the configuration of the“redetermination” offer accepted by the player, distributing the itemsin accordance with the outcome of the redetermination, and/or any otheroperations. Based on the outcome of the redetermination, items may bedistributed to the player as the actual payout of the activated instanceof virtual container.

The evaluation component may be configured to evaluate an outcome of theredetermination of the initial payout of an activated instance of avirtual container. The evaluation by the evaluation component mayinvolve determining values of the items distributed to players as theresult of the redetermination. The values of the items may be evaluatedby the evaluation component based on their availability (or scarcity) inthe game space, their price in a virtual store associated with the gamespace, their utility in the game space, and/or any other factors. Insome implementations, responsive to the determination that the playerhas not achieved a favorable redetermination outcome, the offercomponent may be configured to effectuate presentation of“redetermination” offers to the player again.

These and other features and characteristics of the present technology,as well as the methods of operation and functions of the relatedelements of structure and the combination of parts and economies ofmanufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing description and the appended claims with reference to theaccompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification,wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in thevarious figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that thedrawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only andare not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. As usedin the specification and in the claims, the singular form of “a”, “an”,and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a system configured to enable a playerto accept “redetermination” offer to improve an initial payout of anactivated instance of a virtual container in an online game inaccordance with the disclosure.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example of an instance of the virtual containerprovided in the online game hosted by the system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2B illustrates one example of activating the instance of thevirtual container shown in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 2C illustrates one example of presenting offers to a player afterplayer's activation of the instance of the virtual container illustratedin FIG. 2B.

FIG. 2D illustrates an example of determining, stochastically, anoutcome of a redetermination of initial payout of the instance of thevirtual container activated in FIG. 2C.

FIG. 2E illustrates one example of presenting offers to a player afterit is determined that the player has not achieved a favorableredetermination outcome.

FIG. 3 illustrates one exemplary method for facilitating playerinteraction with an instance of a virtual container in accordance withthe disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a system 100 configured to enable aplayer to improve payout of a virtual container in accordance with thedisclosure. Providing the online games may include hosting the onlinegames over a network. In some implementations, as shown in this example,system 100 may include servers 102 configured for hosting online games.The server 102 may be configured to communicate with one or more clientcomputing platforms 104 according to a client/server architecture. Theplayers may access system 100 and/or a game space associated with theonline game via client computing platforms 104. As shown, the servers102 may comprise processors 108 configured to execute computer-readableinstructions to implement system components. The computer programcomponents may include one or more of a game component 112, an inventorycomponent 114, a virtual container component 116, an activationcomponent 118, an offer component 120, a distribution determinationcomponent 122, an evaluation component 124, and/or other components.

The game component 112 may be configured to execute an instance of anonline game. Within the instance of the online game executed by the gamecomponent 112, players may interact with elements in the online gameand/or with each other through gameplays provided by the online game.The gameplays may include role-playing, first-person shooter, real-timestrategy, turn-based strategy, simulation, music or rhythm playing,social interaction, twitching, and/or any other gameplays. The executionof the instance of the online game by game component 112 may includedetermining a state associated with the online game. The state may becommunicated (e.g., via streaming visual data, object/position data,and/or other state information) from server 102 to client computingplatforms 104 for presentation to players. The state determined andtransmitted to a given client computing platform 104 may correspond to aview for a player character being controlled by a player via the givenclient computing platform 104. The state determined and transmitted to agiven client computing platform 104 may correspond to a location in agame space associated with the online game. The view described by thestate for the given client computing platform may correspond, forexample, to the location from which the view is taken, the location theview depicts and/or other locations, a zoom ratio, a dimensionality ofobjects, a point-of-view, and/or view parameters of the view. One ormore of the view parameters may be selectable by the player.

The instance of the online game may be persistent. That is, the onlinegame may continue on whether or not individual players are currentlylogged in and/or participating in the online game. A player that logsout of the online game and then logs back in some time later may findthe game space associated with the online game has been changed throughthe interactions of other players with the game space during the timethe player was logged out. These changes may include changes to thesimulated physical space, changes in the player's inventory, changes inother players' inventories, changes experienced by non-playercharacters, and/or other changes.

The instance of the online game may comprise a simulated game space,e.g., a game space that is accessible by players via clients (e.g.,client computing platforms 104) that present the views of the game spaceto a player. The game space may have a topography, express ongoingreal-time interaction by one or more players, and/or include one or moreobjects positioned within the topography that are capable of locomotionwithin the topography. In some instances, the topography may be atwo-dimensional topography. In other instances, the topography may be athree-dimensional topography. The topography may include dimensions ofthe space and/or surface features of a surface or objects that are“native” to the space. In some instances, the topography may describe asurface (e.g., a ground surface) that runs through at least asubstantial portion of the space. In some instances, the topography maydescribe a volume with one or more bodies positioned therein (e.g., asimulation of gravity-deprived space with one or more celestial bodiespositioned therein). The instance executed by the computer componentsmay be synchronous, asynchronous, and/or semi-synchronous.

The instance of the online game may comprise game space entitiesautomatically controlled in the instance of the online game. Such gamespace entities may not be associated with any player. As such, theautomatically controlled game space entities may be generated and/ordeveloped by artificial intelligence configured with the server 102 by aprovider, administrator, moderator, and/or any other entities related tothe online game. These automatically controlled entities may evolvewithin the game space associated with the online game free from playercontrols and may interact with the entities controlled by or associatedwith the players, other automatically controlled game space entities, aswell as the topography of the game space. Certain manifested traits maybe associated with the automatically controlled entities in accordancewith the artificial intelligence configured with the server 102. As usedherein, such automatically controlled game space entities in theinstance of the online game are referred to as “non-player entities”.

The above description of the manner in which the state of the game spaceassociated with the online game as determined by game component 112 isnot intended to be limiting. The game component 112 may be configured toexpress the game space in a more limited, or richer, manner. Forexample, views determined for the game space representing the state ofthe instance of the game space may be selected from a limited set ofgraphics depicting an event in a given place within the game space. Theviews may include additional content (e.g., text, audio, pre-storedvideo content, and/or other content) that describes particulars of thecurrent state of the place, beyond the relatively generic graphics. Forexample, a view may include a generic battle graphic with a textualdescription of the opponents to be confronted. Other expressions ofindividual places within the game space are contemplated.

Within the instance of the online game executed by game component 112,the players may participate in the instance of the online game bycontrolling one or more of an element in the game space associated withthe online game. The player-controlled elements may include avatars,game space characters, game space units (e.g., troops), objects (e.g.,weapons, horses, vehicle and so on), simulated physical phenomena (e.g.,wind, rain, earthquakes, and/or other phenomena), and/or otherplayer-controlled elements. The player-controlled avatars may representthe players in the game space. The player characters may include heroes,knights, commanders, leaders, generals, and/or any other game spaceentities that may possess strength, skills, abilities, magic powers,knowledge, and/or any other individualized attributes. The game spaceunits controlled by the player may include troops and/or any other gamespace entities that may be trained, recruited, captured, and/orotherwise acquired by the players in groups or en mass. The objectscontrolled by the players may include weapons, vehicles, projectiles,magic items, wardrobes, boots, armor, knapsacks, medicine, healingpotions, and/or any other virtual items that may be employed by theplayers for interaction within the online game.

In any case, the player-controlled elements may move through andinteract with the game space (e.g., non-player entities, elementscontrolled by other players, and/or topography in the game space)associated with the online game. The elements controlled by a givenplayer may be created and/or customized by the given player. The givenplayer may have an “inventory” of virtual goods and/or currency usablewithin the game space.

Controls of virtual elements in the game space may be exercised throughcommands inputted by a given player through client computing platforms104. The given player may interact with other players throughcommunications exchanged within the game space. Such communications mayinclude one or more of textual chat, instant messages, private messages,voice communications, and/or other communications. Communications may bereceived and entered by the players via their respective clientcomputing platforms 104. Communications may be routed to and from theappropriate players through server 102 (e.g., through game component112).

A given player may input commands with specific parameters to undertakespecific deeds, actions, functions, spheres of actions, and/or any othertypes of interactions within the game space. For example, the givenplayer may input commands to construct, upgrade, and/or demolish virtualbuildings; harvest and/or gather virtual resources; heal virtualplayer-controlled elements, non-player entities, and/or elementscontrolled by other players; train, march, transport, reinforce,reassign, recruit, and/or arrange troops; attack, manage, create,demolish, and/or defend cities, realms, kingdoms, and/or any other gamespace locations controlled by or associated with the players; craft ortransport virtual items; interact with and/or compete against or alongwith non-player entities and/or game space elements controlled by otherplayers in combats; research technologies and/or skills; mine and/orprospect for virtual resources; complete missions, quests, and/orcampaigns; exercise magic power and/or cast spells; and/or perform anyother specific deeds, actions, functions, or sphere of actions withinthe game space. In some examples, the given player may input commands tocompete against elements in an environment within the game space—i.e.,Player vs. Environment (PvE) activities. In some examples, the givenplayer may input commands to compete against each other within the gamespace—i.e., Player vs. Player (PvP) activities.

The game component 112 may be configured to execute player actions tofacilitate interaction of the players with the game space and/or eachother in response to receiving game space commands input by the players.Execution of the player action by the game component 112 may producechanges to the game state, which may reflect progression and/or resultsof the player actions. In some examples, stale changes caused by theexecution of the player actions may be recorded in the electronicstorage 110 to facilitate persistency throughout the instance of theonline game. In some examples, execution of the player actions may notproduce persistent changes to the game state (e.g., a player characterjumping forward and backward successively may not produce anyperceivable game state changes to other players).

Within the instance of the game space, virtual currencies may beprovided to store and/or exchange of game space values. Units of thevirtual currencies (for example, a gold, a gem, a silver, a coin, atoken, and/or any other types of virtual currencies) may reflect gamespace values as determined by a provider, administrator, moderator,player, and/or any other entities related to the game space. Through oneor more units of virtual currencies, game space values may be captured,stored, and circulated in the game space. As one non-limiting example,combinations of player actions, skills, virtual items, time, and/or anyother game space elements may be captured, stored, and circulatedthrough virtual currencies to reflect game space values created byplayer labor in interacting with the game space. For instance, a playermay be provided 1,000 gems after prospecting and mining for the gems inthe game space for a period of time with certain required miningequipment operable only by a skilled game space miner, which the playerhas expanded labor to become.

Within the instance of the game space executed by the game component112, virtual currencies may be collected, earned, purchased, gifted, orotherwise acquired by the players. For example, the players may purchasethe virtual currencies with real- world money consideration (e.g.,credit payment through credit card, electronic vouchers provided by theprovider of the online game, physical tokens, and/or any other types ofreal-world currencies) through a virtual store. The players may earn thevirtual currencies, for example through gameplays provided in the gamespace (e.g., PvP activities, PvE activities, in-game tournaments, tasks,quests, missions, and/or any other gameplays in the game space). By wayof a non-limiting example, a given player may earn a predeterminedamount of virtual currencies after completing an in-game task in thegame space. In some examples, the provider of the online game may simplymake a certain amount of virtual currencies available, for instancethrough treasure troves in the game space such that the players maygratuitously collect the virtual currencies by exploring for thetreasure troves. The players may acquire virtual currencies by receivinggifts that comprise virtual currencies from other players. One ofordinary skills in the art will appreciate that there are other ways forthe players to acquire virtual currencies in the game space.

Within the instance of the game space executed by the game component112, resources may be, for example, generated, cultivated, mined,harvested, purchased, earned, consumed, traded, and/or gifted over timeby units, characters, pets, buildings, facilities, and/or any otherinfrastructure or entity in the game space for the player. Resources maybe prospected. Resources may be virtual items of value that can beaccumulated through participation in the game space, rather than virtualcurrencies that store values in the game space as described above. Assuch, resources may be used to satisfy resource requirements in the gamespace. By way of non-limiting examples, game space resources may includefood (e.g., rice, fish, wheat, etc.). minerals (e.g., wood, iron, ore,coal, oil, stone, crystal, etc.), plants, animals, and/or any otherresources appropriate for the game space. Transfer of resources betweenplayers may be reflected through player inventories such that thetransferor player's inventory reduces an amount of the transferredresources that are added to the transferee player.

Inventory component 114 may be configured to manage inventories ofvirtual items for players of the game space executed by the gamecomponent 112. A given player inventory managed by the inventorycomponent 114 may provide an accounting of virtual items, such asvirtual currencies, resources, objects, units, and/or any other gamespace elements that have been procured, controlled by, and/or otherwiseassociated with a given player in the game space. Such accounting ofvirtual items may reflect balances of the virtual items, e.g., aquantity of these virtual items, associated with the given player in thegame space. The virtual items in a given player inventory may includeinstances of virtual containers, virtual currencies, resources, objectsusable in the game space (e.g., weapons, equipment, garments, etc.),units (e.g., troops), and/or any other virtual items. By way of anon-limiting example, the given player may have an X number of virtualcurrencies, a Y number of a virtual resources (e.g., iron, ore, wood,coal, etc.). and a Z number of troops in the inventory associated withthe given player. In that example, the X, Y, and Z may reflect a levelof balance of the virtual currencies, the resources, and troopsassociated with the given player, respectfully.

Balances of virtual items in the player inventory may increase,replenish, or exhaust in response to the player acquiring or consumingthe virtual items through a virtual store operated by the provider ofthe online game, player actions in the game space (e.g., acquiringvirtual objects, harvesting resources, consuming resources for crafting,etc.), game space activities participated in by the player, and/or otherevents associated with the player in which the player may acquire and/orconsume virtual items. For example, construction actions initiated byplayers may consume specific resources in accordance with resourcerequirements associated with the construction actions, and the playerinventory may exhaust the specific resource in the player inventoryduring execution of the construction. Conversely, players may acquirevirtual containers, resources, virtual items, and/or other game spaceelements in the instance of the game space, and the balance of thevirtual items in the player inventory may increase accordingly toreflect the player acquisition.

The virtual container component 116 may be configured to provideinstances of virtual containers for player interaction in the game spaceexecuted by the game component 112. The instances of virtual containersprovided by virtual container component 116 may be used for distributingvirtual items stochastically or quasi-stochastically to inventoriesassociated with the players. As such, the instances of virtualcontainers may be associated with sets of potential items. That is, agiven instance of a virtual container may be associated with a set ofpotential items such that upon player's activation of the instance ofthe given virtual container, one or more items in the set of potentialitems may be distributed to the player inventory stochastically orquasi-stochastically. The set of potential items associated with thegiven instance of a virtual container may be grouped, for example, bythe functions they serve, by characteristics they possess, by valuesthey possess, and/or any other common attributes. For instance, thegiven instance of a virtual container may be associated with a set ofcombat items usable in the game space during combats, a set of resourceitems that may provide one or more resources to the players, and/or anyother types of virtual items. Examples of the virtual containers thatmay be provided in the game space may include treasure boxes, treasuretroves, combat boxes, war chests, lucky boxes, resource boxes, resourcechests, mystery boxes, mystery chests, random boxes, and/or any othertype(s) virtual container(s).

The instances of a virtual container provided by the virtual containercomponent 116 may facilitate various player interactions within the gamespace executed by the game component 112. For example, instances ofvirtual containers may be provided for purchase in a virtual store ofthe game space, may be picked up by players in the game space after theycomplete in-game tasks, may facilitate players to engage in mini-gamesprovided in the game space, and/or may be provided in any other manners.By way of non-limiting example, a virtual container associated withvarious potential combat items may be provided in the game space suchthat when a player kills an Al character (e.g., a monster), instances ofthe virtual container may be dropped by the Al character for the playerto collect. Upon player activation of an instance of the dropped virtualcontainer, one or more combat items in the set of potential combat itemsassociated with the instance of the dropped virtual container may bedetermined stochastically or quasi-stochastically for distribution tothe player inventory. New instances of the virtual container may besubsequently and similarly provided through another monster in the gamespace.

Individual items in the set of potential items associated with a giveninstance of a virtual container may be associated with correspondingdistribution probabilities for distributing to the player inventories.The distribution probabilities may be determined, for example, by theprovider(s) of the game space, by a probability component in the server102 (not depicted), and/or by any other means. The distributionprobabilities may be employed, for example, by the activation component118 to simulate a stochastic or quasi-stochastic distribution of theitems in the set of potential items to the player through the instancesof the virtual container.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example of an instance of a virtual containerprovided in the game space hosted by the system 100 shown in FIG. 1. Asshown in this example, the instance of virtual container 206, e.g., amystery box, may be associated with a set of potential items 208. Asillustrated, the individual ones of the potential items 208 may beassociated with a corresponding distribution probability 210. In thisexample, as shown, among the set of potential items 208 associated withthe instance of virtual container 206, items #1 and #2 are premium items(e.g., rare items in the game space) and have 5% and 10%, respectively,distribution probability to be distributed to the player when the playeractivates the instance of virtual container 206. As also illustrated,items #3, #4, and #5 may be regular items that are associated with ahigher distribution probability than items #1 and #2. As stillillustrated, a distribution probability may be associated with nothingsuch that nothing may be distributed to the player when the playeractivates the instance of virtual container 206.

The activation component 118 may be configured to activate instances ofvirtual containers responsive to player activation requests, and todetermine an initial payout in accordance with the distributionprobabilities corresponding to the individual potential items associatedwith the activated instances of the virtual containers. For example, aplayer may be enabled to click on an instance of a virtual container inthe player inventory to activate an instance of a virtual container. Thevirtual container activation component 118 may be configured to receivethe activation request from the player and to determine, stochasticallyor quasi-stochastically, one or more virtual items, i.e., the initialpayout, for distribution to the player. In implementations, responsiveto receiving the activation request from the player, the virtualcontainer activation component 118 may obtain the distributionprobabilities corresponding to the potential items in the set ofpotential items associated with the activated instance of the virtualcontainer; determine stochastic or quasi-stochastic distribution of oneor more items in the sets of the potential items to be distributed tothe player in accordance with the distribution probabilities; and/or anyother operations. In some exemplary implementations, the virtualcontainer activation component 118 may employ a dice roll procedure forthe stochastic or quasi-stochastic determination of the initial payoutof the activated instance of the virtual container.

FIG. 2B illustrates one example of activating the instance of thevirtual container shown in FIG. 2A. As shown, the player may be enabledto activate the instance of virtual container 206 by clicking on theinstance of virtual container 206. After the player activates theinstance of virtual container 206, one or more virtual items, i.e., theinitial payout, may be determined stochastically or quasi-stochasticallyfor the player. In this example, items #1 and #3 are determined as theinitial payout of the activated instance of virtual container 206 to theplayer.

The offer component 120 may be configured to effectuate, responsive tothe player activates an instance of virtual container, presentation ofoffers on a client computing platform 104 associated with a player. Theoffers may include an “even” offer that specifies the player may acceptthe initial payout determined by the activation component 118, one ormore “redetermination” offers that specifies the player may have theinitial payout redetermined to improve the initial payout, and/or anyother offers. A given “redetermination” offer may specify an amount ofconsideration required for the player to have the initial payoutredetermined as specified by the “redetermination” offer. In someexamples, the amount of consideration for the given “redetermination”offer may be an amount of virtual currencies, stored credits (e.g.,points,), real-world money credit, and/or any other fiat consideration.In some examples, the amount of consideration for the given“redetermination” offer may be a quantity of the virtual items, e.g.,the “redeterminable” item(s) included in the given “redetermination”offer. For instance, as an illustration, a “redetermination” offer maybe presented to enable the player to bet one or more items in theinitial payout such that those items may be doubled in the payout if theplayer achieves a favorable redetermination outcome, or may be removedfrom the initial payout if the player achieves an unfavorableredetermination outcome.

In implementations, effectuating presentation of the offers by the offercomponent 120 may involve obtaining configuration of the offers. In someimplementations, the offers may be configured by the provider,administrator, moderator, and/or any other entities related to the gamespace and stored in storage location(s) such as the electronic storage110. For example, without implementations, the provider of the onlinegame may configure the “redetermination” offers for different instancesof virtual containers via an interface and store the configured offersin the electronic storage 110 so that they may be presented to playersvia the offer component 120. In some implementations, an offerconfiguration component (not depicted) may be employed in the server 102to configure the offers dynamically in accordance with one or more rulesestablished by the provider, administrator, moderator, and/or any otherentities related to the online game. In any case, a configuration of a“redetermination” offer for a given instance of virtual container mayinclude an amount of consideration for invoking the “redetermination”offer, a probability for an outcome of winning a reward, one or more“redeterminable” items included in the “redetermination” offer, termsfor wins or losses, and/or any other configuration for the“redetermination” offer.

The “redetermination” offer may specify an amount of considerationrequired for a player to have the initial payout redetermined asspecified by the “redetermination” offer. The consideration may includean amount of virtual currencies, stored credits (e.g., points),real-world money credit, virtual items, and/or any other type(s) ofobjects desired by the provider, administrator, moderator, and/or anyother entities related to the game space. For example, withoutlimitation, the “redetermination” offer may specify that theconsideration (e.g., cost) for having (e.g., play) the redeterminationperformed is 5 gems, 99 cents, 20 points, a sword, and/or any otherconsideration. In some implementations, the amount of consideration mayinclude the “redeterminable” item(s). For example, the “redetermination”offer may specify that one or more items in the initial payout may bebetted such that the player may increase the payout of the“redeterminable” item(s) (e.g., double) if the player wins, or lose the“redeterminable” item(s) in the payout if the player loses. This maycreate a player interaction with the activated instance of virtualcontainer akin to “double or nothing” in a casino game. As anillustration, in one example, the initial payout of an instance ofvirtual container activated by a use may include a rare sword highlydesired in the game space; a “redetermination” offer may be presented tothe player specifying that the player may bet the rare sword such thatif the player wins, the payout of the activated instance of virtualcontainer will become two rare swords (i.e., doubling the initialpayout), and if the player loses, the payout will become nothing (i.e.,losing the initial payout).

In some implementations, the amount of the consideration for the“redetermination” offer may be inversely proportional to the value (realand/or perceived) of the item(s) in the initial payout. As anillustration, without limitation, in one implementation, the initialpayout may include a rare magic item and a regular magic item. In thatexample, a first “redetermination” offer may be presented to the playerspecifying that the player may pay 2 gems to have the rare magic itemdetermined, and a second “redetermination” offer may be presented to theplayer specifying the player may pay 5 gems to have the regular magicitem redetermined.

In some implementations, without limitation, the “redetermination” offermay be associated with probability specifying the odds by which theplayer may achieve favorable redetermination outcomes. For example,without limitation, the “redetermination” offer may specify that theplayer may have a 40% of chance of improving the “redeterminable” itemsincluded in the “redetermination” offer. Such probability associatedwith the “redetermination” offer may or may not be presented to theplayer. In some instances, the provider of the online game may determinethat the probability associated with the “redetermination” offer may bepresented to the player to aid the player to determine opportunity costin view of the chance of achieving a favorable redetermination outcome.However, this is not necessarily the only case. In some other instances,the probability associated with the “redetermination” offer may be keptsecret from the player so as to keep the player guessing. This may add arandom factor to the interaction of the instance of virtual containerand enhance player experience. In some implementations, the probabilityassociated with the “redetermination” offer may be determineddynamically based on various factors, such as monetization rate, playrate, difficulty rate, value rate and/or any other factors within thegame space. For instance, in one implementation, higher probability ofachieving a favorable redetermination outcome may be configured into the“redetermination” offer when a play rate of the online game is below athreshold so as to promote the online game; and lower probability ofachieving a favorable redetermination outcome may be configured into the“redetermination” offer when a difficulty rate of the online game isbelow a threshold so as to make the online game more difficult.

The “redetermination” offer may include one or more item(s) in theinitial payout to be redetermined, i.e., the “redeterminable” item(s).The “redeterminable” item(s) in the “redetermination” offer may includesome or all of the items in the initial payout. For example, withoutlimitation, if the initial payout includes 3 items, the “redeterminable”items may include 1, 2 or all 3 of the items. In some implementations,which one(s) of the item(s) in the initial payout may be determineddynamically for inclusion as “redeterminable” item(s) based on variousfactors, such as monetization rate, play rate, difficulty rate, valuerate and/or any other factors within the game space. For instance, inone implementation, all of the items in the initial payout may beincluded in the “redetermination” offer as “redeterminable” items when amonetization rate of the online game is below a threshold; and only oneof the items in the initial payout may be included in the“redetermination” offer as “redeterminable” items when a difficulty rateof the online game is below a threshold so as to make the online gamemore difficult,

The “redetermination” offer may be associated with one or more terms ofspecifying win or loss of the redetermination. For example, withoutlimitation, the terms may specify losing some or all of theconsideration of the player achieves an unfavorable redeterminationoutcome, losing some or all of the consideration even if the playerachieves a favorable redetermination outcome, increasing the amount of“redeterminable” item(s) in the payouts if the player achieves afavorable redetermination outcome, returning some or all of theconsideration to the player if the player achieves a favorableredetermination outcome, and/or any other terms. For instance, as anillustration, the “redetermination” offer may specify that the playerwill lose all of the consideration but increase the amount of the“redeterminable” item(s) in the payout as a reward if the playerachieves a favorable redetermination outcome. As another illustration,the “redetermination” offer may specify that the player will get theconsideration back and increase the amount of “redeterminable” item(s),as a reward, if the player achieves a favorable redetermination outcome.Still as another illustration, the “redetermination” offer may specifythat the player will lose the consideration and some or all of the“redeterminable” item(s) if the player achieves an unfavorable favorableredetermination outcome. Various other combinations of the win/lossterms included in the “redetermination” offer are contemplated.

FIG. 2C illustrates one example of presenting offers to a player afterthe player's activation of the instance of the virtual containerillustrated in FIG. 2B. As can be seen from FIG. 2C. after the playeractivates the instance of virtual container 206 as illustrated in FIG.2B, offers, such as offers 212, 214, and 216 illustrated in thisexample, may be presented to enable the player to interact with theinstance of virtual container through field controls 218. In thisexample, as shown, offer 212 represents an “even” offer by which theplayer may accept the initial payout of the activated instance ofvirtual container 206, for example as determined by the activationcomponent 118. As also shown, in this example, offers 214 and 216represent “redetermination” offers by which the player can improve theitems specified in the “redetermination” offers 214 and 216. Asillustrated in this example, offer 214 specifies that the player may pay5 gems as consideration in exchange for a chance to have item #1 in theinitial payout redetermined, and offer 216 specifies that the player maypay 10 gems as consideration in exchange for a chance to have item #3 inthe initial payout redetermined. The difference in the amount ofconsideration between offers 214 and 216 may be due to the differencebetween the values of item #1 and item #3 in the game space. Forexample, without limitation, item #1 may be a more desired item, e.g., a“chase” item, in the game space than item #3. In this example, as shown,the player accepts offer 212, the “even offer”, to keep the initialpayout. As a result, the initial payout of items #1 and item #3 isdistributed to the inventory 220 associated with the player.

Returning to FIG. 1, the distribution determination component 122 may beconfigured to distribute one or more virtual items to inventoryassociated with the player in accordance with the offer accepted by theplayer. The accepted offer received by the distribution determinationcomponent 122 may include “redetermination”, “even” offer, and/or anyother offers. For example, the distribution determination component 122may distribute the initial payout in accordance with the “even” offeraccepted by the player. As another non-limiting example, thedistribution determination component 122 may distribute the initialpayout in accordance with the “redetermination” offer accepted by theplayer by determining, stochastically or quasi-stochastically, anoutcome of the redetermination in accordance with the configuration of“redetermination” offer accepted by the player.

Determining the distribution of the items by the distributiondetermination component 122 may involve obtaining the configuration ofthe “redetermination” offer accepted by the player, determining whetherthe player achieves a favorable determination outcome in accordance withthe probability specified in the configuration of the “redetermination”offer accepted by the player, distributing the items in accordance withthe outcome of the redetermination, and/or any other consideration. Forexample, without limitation, the distribution determination component122 may receive a player selection indicating that the player will payan amount of consideration to have an item in the initial payoutredetermined. In that example, the distribution determination component122 may obtain a probability associated with the “redetermination” offeraccepted by the player, and invoke a dice roll procedure for determiningthe outcome of the redetermination in accordance with the obtainedprobability. In some implementations, the probability obtained by thedistribution determination component 122 may be the distributionprobabilities originally associated with the activated instance of thevirtual container. For example, without limitation, in oneimplementation, the distribution determination component 122 may obtainthe distribution probability associated with the activated instance ofthe virtual container and redetermine the initial payout using thedistribution probability. However, this is not necessarily the onlycase. As described above, in some implementations, the probabilityobtained by distribution determination component 122 may differ from thedistribution probability originally associated with the activatedinstance of the virtual container. For example, without limitation, theobtained probability may be improved over the original distributionprobability so that the player has a good chance to acquire a “better”item through the redetermination. Based on the outcome of theredetermination as performed by the distribution determination component122, items may be distributed to the player as the actual payout of theactivated instance of the virtual container.

FIG. 2D illustrates an example of determining, stochastically orquasi-stochastically, an outcome of the redetermination requested by theplayer. As shown in this example, the player accepts offer 214 to pay 5gems in exchange to have item #1 in in the initial payout redetermined.As shown, responsive to the player selection of offer 214, a dice rollprocedure may be invoked, for example by the distribution determinationcomponent 122 for a redetermination 222. As illustrated, in thisexample, if the player is determined to have achieved a favorableredetermination outcome, an item #2, which may be a “better” item (interms of real value and/or perceived by the player), instead of item #1,may be included in the actual payout for delivery to the player'sinventory. As also shown, if the player is determined to have notachieved a favorable outcome through the redetermination, an item 0,which may be an “inferior” item (in terms of real value and/or perceivedby the player), instead of item #1, may be included in the actual payoutfor delivery to the player's inventory. As can be seen from thisexample, the 5 gems paid by the player for accepting offer 214 may bededucted from the player inventory 202 regardless of the redeterminationoutcome. This may present a monetization opportunity for the provider ofthe online game because the player may be willing to pay the amount ofconsideration for improving items initially determined for distributionof the instance of the virtual container activated by the player. Itshould be understood that the example illustrated in FIG. 2D is notintended to be limiting. Other configurations of the redetermination arecontemplated. For example, in some implementations, the items in theinitial payout may be doubled up (quantity) or lost as the result of theredetermination. For instance, the player may be offered to pay anamount of consideration in exchange for a chance to double up one ormore items in the initial payout. In that instance, if theredetermination is in favor of the player, the player may have the oneor more items in the initial payout doubled up, or if theredetermination is not in favor of the player, the player may lose theone or more items in the initial payout. This may simulate a “double ornothing” play.

The evaluation component 124 may be configured to evaluate an outcome ofthe redetermination as performed by the distribution determinationcomponent 122. The evaluation by the evaluation component 124 mayinvolve determining values of the items distributed to players as theresult of the redetermination. The values of the items may be evaluatedby the evaluation component 124 based on their availability (orscarcity) in the game space; their price in a virtual store associatedwith the game space; their utility in the game space (e.g., the level ofoffensive power it provides, the level of defensive power it provides,the level of magic power it provides, and/or any other type of utility);and/or any other factors. For example, without limitation, theevaluation component 124 may determine whether the player has improvedthe initial payout through the redetermination.

In some implementations, responsive to the determination that the playerhas not achieved a favorable redetermination outcome by the evaluationcomponent 124, the offer component 120 may be configured to effectuatepresentation of offers to the player for facilitating further playerinteractions with the activated instance of virtual container. FIG. 2Eillustrates one example of presenting offers to a player after it isdetermined that the player has not achieved a favorable redeterminationoutcome. As shown in FIG. 2E, after it has been determined that theplayer has not achieved a favorable redetermination outcome by thedetermination 222 illustrated in FIG. 2D, a notification 224 may bepresented to the player. As illustrated, the notification 224 may notifythe player of the redetermination outcome—in this case that the playerdid not achieve a “better” payout. As also illustrated, the notification224 may notify the player that the player may try again to improve thepayouts of the activated instance of the virtual container 206. As canbe seen from FIG. 2E, in association with the notification 224, offerssuch as offers 226, 228, and 216 may be presented. As illustrated, offer226 may be presented to enable the player not to continue to interactwith the instance of virtual container 206 so that the player may acceptthe outcome of the redetermination. As also illustrated, an offer 228may be presented to the player to enable the player to try again. Inthis example, as shown, since the player did not achieve a “better”payout through offer 214 shown in FIG. 2D, offer 228 may be presented toenable the player to have item #2, which replaces item #1 as the resultof redetermination, redetermined. In some implementations, the amount ofconsideration the player may be required to pay in exchange forrepeating the previous redetermination may be less than that requiredfor the previous redetermination. As illustrated in this example, in theprevious redetermination shown in FIG. 2D, 5 gems are required for theplayer to accept “redetermination” offer 214, but only 3 gems arerequired for the player to try again as illustrated in FIG. 2E. Inimplementations, the amount or magnitude of the discount may bedetermined based on the value of the “redeterminable” item(s) asdetermined by the evaluation component 124. For example, withoutlimitation, a bigger discount may be applied if the “redeterminable”item(s) has somewhat (or relative) low value in the game space; while asmaller (or no) discount may be applied if the “redeterminable” item(s)has somewhat (or relative) high value in the game space.

Returning to FIG. 1, the server 102, client computing platforms 104,and/or external resources 106 may be operatively linked via one or moreelectronic communication links. For example, such electroniccommunication links may be established, at least in part, via a networksuch as the Internet and/or other networks. It will be appreciated thatthis is not intended to be limiting, and that the scope of thisdisclosure includes implementations in which servers 102, clientcomputing platforms 104, and/or external resources 106 may beoperatively linked via some other communication media.

A given client computing platform 104 may include one or more processorsconfigured to execute computer program components. The computer programcomponents may be configured to enable an expert or player associatedwith the given client computing platform 104 to interface with system100 and/or external resources 106, and/or provide other functionalityattributed herein to client computing platforms 104. By way ofnon-limiting example, the given client computing platform 104 mayinclude one or more of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a handheldcomputer, a tablet computing platform, a NetBook, a Smartphone, a gamingconsole, and/or other computing platforms.

The external resources 106 may include sources of information, hostsand/or providers of virtual environments outside of system 100, externalentities participating with system 100, and/or other resources. In someimplementations, some or all of the functionality attributed herein toexternal resources 106 may be provided by resources included in system100.

The server 102 may include electronic storage 110, one or moreprocessors 108, and/or other components. The server 102 may includecommunication lines or ports to enable the exchange of information witha network and/or other computing platforms. Illustration of server 102in FIG. 1 is not intended to be limiting. The server 102 may include aplurality of hardware, software, and/or firmware components operatingtogether to provide the functionality attributed herein to server 102.For example, server 102 may be implemented by a cloud of computingplatforms operating together as server 102.

Electronic storage 110 may comprise electronic storage media thatelectronically stores information. The electronic storage media ofelectronic storage 110 may include one or both of system storage that isprovided integrally (i.e., substantially non-removable) with server 102and/or removable storage that is removably connectable to server 102via, for example, a port (e.g., a USB port, a FireWire port, etc.) or adrive (e.g., a disk drive, etc.). Electronic storage 110 may include oneor more of optically readable storage media (e.g., optical disks, etc.),magnetically readable storage media (e.g., magnetic tape, magnetic harddrive, floppy drive, etc.), electrical charge-based storage media (e.g.,EEPROM, RAM, etc.), solid-slate storage media (e.g., flash drive, etc.),and/or other electronically readable storage media. The electronicstorage 110 may include one or more virtual storage resources (e.g.,cloud storage, a virtual private network, and/or other virtual storageresources). Electronic storage 110 may store software algorithms,information determined by processor 108, information received fromserver 102, information received from client computing platforms 104,and/or other information that enables server 102 to function asdescribed herein.

Processor(s) 108 is configured to provide information processingcapabilities in server 102. As such, processor 108 may include one ormore of a digital processor, an analog processor, a digital circuitdesigned to process information, an analog circuit designed to processinformation, a state machine, and/or other mechanisms for electronicallyprocessing information. Although processor 108 is shown in FIG. 1 as asingle entity, this is for illustrative purposes only. In someimplementations, processor 108 may include a plurality of processingunits. These processing units may be physically located within the samedevice, or processor 108 may represent processing functionality of aplurality of devices operating in coordination. The processor 108 may beconfigured to execute components 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, and 124.Processor 108 may be configured to execute components 112, 114, 116,118, 120, and 122, 124 by software; hardware; firmware; some combinationof software, hardware, and/or firmware; and/or other mechanisms forconfiguring processing capabilities of processor 108.

It should be appreciated that although components 112, 114, 116, 118,120, 122, 124 are illustrated in FIG. 1 as being co-located within asingle processing unit, in implementations in which processor 108includes multiple processing units, one or more of components 112, 114,116, 118, 120, 122, 124 may be located remotely from the othercomponents. The description of the functionality provided by thedifferent components 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124 described belowis for illustrative purposes, and is not intended to be limiting, as anyof components 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124 may provide more or lessfunctionality than is described. For example, one or more of components112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124 may be eliminated, and some or ail ofits functionality may be provided by other ones of components 112, 114,116, 118, 120, 122, 124. As another example, processor 108 may beconfigured to execute one or more additional components that may performsome or all of the functionality attributed below to one of components112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 122, 124.

FIG. 3 illustrates one exemplary method 300 for facilitating playerinteraction with an instance of virtual container in accordance with thedisclosure. The operations of method 300 presented below are intended tobe illustrative. In some embodiments, method 300 may be accomplishedwith one or more additional operations not described, and/or without oneor more of the operations discussed. Additionally, the order in whichthe operations of method 300 are illustrated in FIG. 3 and describedbelow is not intended to be limiting.

In some embodiments, method 300 may be implemented in one or moreprocessing devices (e.g., a digital processor, an analog processor, adigital circuit designed to process information, an analog circuitdesigned to process information, a state machine, and/or othermechanisms for electronically processing information). The one or moreprocessing devices may include one or more devices executing some or allof the operations of method 300 in response to instructions storedelectronically on an electronic storage medium. The one or moreprocessing devices may include one or more devices configured throughhardware, firmware, and/or software to be specifically designed forexecution of one or more of the operations of method 300.

At an operation 302, an instance of an online game may be hosted. Insome implementations, operation 302 may be performed by a game componentthe same as or similar to game component 112 (shown in FIG. 1 anddescribed herein).

At an operation 304, player inventory may be managed for the players ofthe online game hosted in operation 302. In some implementations,operation 302 may be performed by an inventory component the same as orsimilar to inventory component 114 (shown in FIG. 1 and describedherein).

At an operation 306, instances of virtual containers may be provided inthe online game hosted in operation 302. The instances of virtualcontainers provided in operation 306 may be used for distributingvirtual items stochastically or quasi-stochastically to the players ofthe online game. Examples of virtual containers that may be provided inoperation 306 may include treasure boxes, treasure troves, combat boxes,war chests, lucky boxes, resource boxes, resource chests, mystery boxes,mystery chests, random boxes, and/or any other type(s) of virtualcontainer(s). As such, a given instance of virtual container may beassociated with a set of potential items such that upon playeractivation of the instance of the given virtual container, one or moreitems in the set of potential items may be distributed to the playerinventory stochastically or quasi-stochastically. The individual one ormore items in the set of potential items associated with the giveninstance of virtual container may be associated with correspondingdistribution probabilities for distribution to the players. In someimplementations, operation 306 may be performed by a virtual containercomponent the same as or similar to virtual container component 116(shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At an operation 308, a first instance of a virtual container may beactivated for the first player in the online game. In someimplementations, operation 308 may be performed by activation componentthe same as or similar to activation component 118 (shown in FIG. 1 anddescribed herein).

At an operation 310, one or more items in the sets of the potentialitems associated with the first instance of virtual container may bedetermined, stochastically or quasi-stochastically, as the initialpayout for distribution to the player in accordance with thedistribution probability corresponding to the individual items in theset of potential items associated with the first instance of virtualcontainer. In some implementations, operation 310 may be performed by anactivation component the same as or similar to activation component 118(shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At an operation 312. presentation of offers to enable the player tointeract with the first instance of virtual container may beeffectuated. The offers may include an “even” offer that specifies thatthe player may accept the initial payout determined in operation 310,one or more “redetermination” offers specifying that the player may havethe initial payout redetermined to improve the initial payout, and/orany other offers. The given “redetermination” offer may specify anamount of consideration that the player must pay in order to have theredetermination of the initial payout performed as specified by the“redetermination” offer. A configuration of the given “redetermination”offer may include a probability for an outcome of a favorableredetermination offer, designation of one or more items in the payoutthat may be redetermined, terms for wins or losses, and/or any otherconfiguration for the “redetermination” offer. In some implementations,operation 312 may be performed by an offer component the same as orsimilar to offer component 120 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At an operation 314, a player acceptance of an offer presented inoperation 312 may be received. In some implementations, operation 314may be performed by a distribution determination component the same asor similar to distribution determination component 122 (shown in FIG. 1and described herein).

At an operation 316, virtual items may be distributed to the player inaccordance with the player selection received in operation 314.Distribution of the items in operation 316 may involve obtaining theconfiguration of the “redetermination” offer accepted by the player inoperation 314, redetermining the initial payout in accordance with theprobability specified in the configuration of the received“redetermination” offer, distributing the items in accordance with theoutcome of the redetermination, and/or any other operations. In someimplementations, operation 316 may be performed by a distributiondetermination component the same as or similar to distributiondetermination component 122 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

Although the present technology has been described in detail for thepurpose of illustration based on what is currently considered to be themost practical and preferred implementations, it is to be understoodthat such detail is solely for that purpose and that the technology isnot limited to the disclosed implementations, but, on the contrary, isintended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that arewithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, it isto be understood that the present technology contemplates that, to theextent possible, one or more features of any implementation can becombined with one or more features of any other implementation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for facilitating player interaction withvirtual containers in an online game, the system comprising: one or morephysical processors configured by machine-readable instructions to: hostthe online game, wherein hosting the online games comprises managingplayer inventories of virtual items associated with individual playersin the online game, the managed player inventories including a firstplayer inventory associated with a first player of the on line game;provide instances of virtual containers for player interaction in theonline game, the instances of the virtual containers being associatedwith corresponding sets of potential items such that a first instance ofa first virtual container is provided to the first player forinteraction and is associated with a first set of potential items,wherein the individual potential items in the first set are associatedwith corresponding distribution probabilities for distribution to thefirst player inventory; receive from players activation requests foractivating instances of virtual containers and responsive to suchactivation requests, determine which one or ones of the potential itemswill be distributed to the players in accordance with the distributionprobabilities corresponding to the potential items associated with therequested instances of the virtual containers such that responsive to anactivation request from the first player for activating the firstinstance of the first virtual container, one or more items in the firstset of potential items are determined to be distributed to the firstplayer inventory in accordance with the distribution probabilitiescorresponding to the individual potential items in the first set;responsive to the determination of the one or more items in the firstset of potential items to be distributed to the first player inventoryas an initial payout, effectuate presentation of an offer forredetermining one or more items in the initial payout, wherein the offerspecifies that the first player may pay a first amount of considerationin exchange for having the one or more items in the initial payoutredetermined, wherein the first amount of consideration includes valuein addition to any value that the one or more items in the initialpayout have; and responsive to the first player accepting the offer,redetermine, stochastically or quasi-stochastically, the one or moreitems in the initial payout to determine an actual payout; anddistribute the initial payout and/or the actual payout to the firstplayer inventory based on whether or not the first player accepts theoffer and/or an outcome of the redetermination.
 2. The system of claim1, wherein the outcome of the redetermination is increasing the quantityof the one or more items in the initial payout to be distributed to thefirst player inventory.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the outcome ofthe redetermination is reducing the quantity of the one or more items inthe initial payout to be distributed to the first player inventory. 4.The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more physical processors arefurther configured to return the first amount of consideration to thefirst player if the outcome of the redetermination indicates thequantity of the one or more items in the initial payout to bedistributed to the first player inventory is increased.
 5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more physical processors are furtherconfigured such that if the redetermination outcome reduces the quantityof the one or more items in the initial payout and/or the value that theone or more items in the initial payout have presentation of a thirdoffer and fourth offer on the client computing platform associated withthe first player is effectuated, wherein the third offer specifies thatthe first player may accept the redetermination outcome, and the fourthoffer specifies that the first player may pay a second amount ofconsideration in exchange for continuing to have the one or more itemsin the initial payout redetermined.
 6. The system of claim 5, whereinthe second amount of consideration is less than or equal to the firstamount of consideration.
 7. The system of claim 5, wherein thedifference between the second amount of consideration and the firstamount of consideration is proportional to the value of the one or moreitems in the initial payout.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the oneor more physical processors are further configured to evaluate the valueof the items to be distributed to the player after the stochastic orquasi-stochastic redetermination.
 9. A method for facilitating playerinteraction with virtual containers in an online game, the method beingimplemented in one or more physical processors configured to executecomputer programs, the method comprising: hosting the online game,wherein hosting the online games comprises managing player inventoriesof virtual items associated with individual players in the online game,the managed player inventories including a first player inventoryassociated with a first player of the on line game; providing instancesof virtual containers for player interaction in the on line game, theinstances of the virtual containers being associated with correspondingsets of potential items such that a first instance of a first virtualcontainer is provided to the first player for interaction and isassociated with a first set of potential items, wherein the individualpotential items in the first set are associated with correspondingdistribution probabilities for distribution to the first playerinventory; receiving from players activation requests for activatinginstances of virtual containers and responsive to such activationrequests, determine which one or ones of the potential items will bedistributed to the players as initial payouts in accordance with thedistribution probabilities corresponding to the potential itemsassociated with the requested instances of the virtual containers suchthat in responsive to an activation request from the first player foractivating the first instance of the first virtual container, one ormore items in the first set of potential items are determined to bedistributed to the first player inventory in accordance with thedistribution probabilities corresponding to the individual potentialitems in the first set; responsive to the determination of the one ormore items in the first set of virtual items to be distributed to thefirst player inventory, effectuating presentation of an offer forredetermining the one or more items in the first set of virtual items tobe distributed to the first player inventory as an initial payout,wherein the offer specifies that the first player may pay a first amountof consideration in exchange for having the determined one or more itemsin the initial payout redetermined, wherein the first amount ofconsideration includes value in addition to any value that the one ormore items in the initial payout have; and responsive to the firstplayer accepting the offer, redetermining, stochastically orquasi-stochastically, the one or more items in the initial payout todetermine an actual payout; and distribute the initial payout and/or theactual payout to the first player inventory based on whether or not thefirst player accepts the offer and/or an outcome of the redetermination.10. The method of claim 9, wherein the outcome of the redetermination isincreasing the quantity of the one or more items in the initial payoutto be distributed to the first player inventory.
 11. The method of claim9, wherein the outcome of the redetermination is reducing the quantityof the one or more items in the initial payout to be distributed to thefirst player inventory.
 12. The method of claim 10, further comprisingreturning the first amount of consideration to the first player if theoutcome of the redetermination indicates the quantity of the one or moreitems in the initial payout to be distributed to the first playerinventory is increased.
 13. The method of claim 9, further comprising ifthe redetermination outcome reduces the quantity of the one or moreitems in the initial payout and/or the value that the one or more itemsin the initial payout have, effectuating presentation of a third offerand fourth offer on the client computing platform associated with thefirst player, wherein the third offer specifies that the first playermay accept the redetermination outcome, and the fourth offer specifiesthat the first player may pay a second amount of consideration inexchange for continuing to have the one or more items in the initialpayout redetermined.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the secondamount of consideration is less than or equal to the first amount ofconsideration.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the differencebetween the second amount of consideration and the first amount ofconsideration is proportional to the value of the determined one or moreitems.
 16. The method of claim 10, further comprising evaluating thevalue of the items to be distributed to the player after the stochasticor quasi-stochastic determination.